The FAO-EU FLEGT Programme has committed to a significant contribution to global Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) achievements in 2017 under the Phase III programme. This year’s objectives were to increasingly operationalize the projects that were endorsed under the first two calls for proposals in the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) countries and ensure productive results from these projects that will have a positive effect on the VPA processes. Most projects are active and the Programme team continues to identify, develop and finalize agreements with local stakeholders to implement projects that directly move VPA processes forward. The team has finalized the inception documents for six of the seven non-VPA countries and is seeking endorsement to start project activities, and has initiated the process, in Uganda, which is the seventh country. The private sector assessments from previous years are complete and are now being operationalized. Cross-cutting issues, such as communication, visibility, and understanding gender in FLEGT initiatives, are all fully integrated in the Programme’s approaches, but are still awaiting final comment from the Steering Committee.